Getty New York Giants' quarterback Daniel Jones "doesn't throw the receivers open," according to one NFL defensive coach.
The list of things wrong with how Daniel Jones is playing quarterback for the New York Giants is extensive, according to an unnamed defensive coach. In a long list of savage complaints, this coach ripped Jones’ accuracy and ball placement, while also laying some of the blame at the feat of Giants’ coaches.
This verbal evisceration was reported by Mike Sando of The Athletic. Sando asked “NFL coaches” to identify what’s wrong with Jones, and this critique was harrowing: “It’s very noticeable how little they make him play like an NFL quarterback. He has the easiest reads and the easiest concepts, and still he does not throw the ball accurately. He doesn’t throw to the correct leverage, doesn’t throw the receivers open, just doesn’t do it. I’m giving you zero opinions. This is all the tape shows.”
If this is a prevailing sense around the league, it’s an indictment of the Giants’ decision to give Jones a lucrative new contract this offseason. The decision already looks like it’s backfired, although Jones has hardly been helped by a feeble offensive line, along with an injury to stud running back Saquon Barkley, the engine of the Giants’ offense.
Even so, those factors can’t completely mitigate Jones’ increasingly sketchy performances this season. Especially when his erratic mechanics are leading to trouble for other players.
Common Complaints Made About Jones
There’s a worrying theme developing when coaches and players take Jones to task. While this unnamed coach focused on accuracy issues, Seattle Seahawks’ rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon revealed he and his teammates knew Jones “liked to stare down his first target.”
Jones threw a gift Witherspoon returned 97 yards for a touchdown during the third quarter of the Giants’ 24-3 loss to the Seahawks in Week 4. The play left head coach Brian Daboll furious after Jones appeared to stare down his first read, wide receiver Parris Campbell, missing tight end Darren Waller open in the end zone, something highlighted by Doug Rush of FanSided’s GMenHQ.
Stopped the play as Devon Witherspoon picks off Daniel Jones.
Darren Waller is in the end zone wide open and was completely missed.
How does Jones not take advantage of Waller’s size there for possible points!?!
Waller hasn’t been getting the ball enough, and Daboll mentioned “reads” as one of the possible reasons for the Pro Bowler’s lack of targets. That’s an indictment of Jones, the one making the reads and decisions about where to go with the ball.
Unfortunately, many of Jones’ decisions are leading to problems for his receivers. As the coach speaking with Sando detailed, Jones’ accuracy and placement are forcing wide open targets to make difficult catches or else leaving them to be caught by defensive players able to recover because of an underthrown pass.
Worse still, Jones is struggling to identify coverage, a problem that showed up during Week 1’s 40-0 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys. It happened when Jones tried to find Barkley out of the backfield.
Sando was given details about how “on another pick-six, this one against Dallas, Jones targeted Barkley on a third-and-19 play in the first quarter. The Cowboys had a cornerback positioned in cloud coverage to smash into Barkley the moment Barkley caught the ball. That’s what happened, sending the ball high into the air, where it was intercepted and returned for a touchdown.”
The highlight shows Cowboys’ All-Pro Trevon Diggs waiting in zone coverage to swarm on any short throw, but Jones missed him.
DARON BLAND PICK-6!
ANOTHER D/ST TD FOR THE @DallasCowboys!
📺: #DALvsNYG on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus t.co/DITLbvj034
It’s possible Jones backed Barkley to beat his defender in the open field, but this was still an iffy read with disastrous consequences. Jones is making too many of these wrong decisions while he’s beset by intense pressure.
Not All of the Problems Are Jones’ Fault
Taking 22 sacks through four games will impact any quarterback’s decision-making process. Jones is either hesitating to get rid of the ball when he should, or else he’s too eager to connect with his first read and save himself from another beating.
Big Blue’s suspect O-line is doing Jones few favors. So is being without Barkley for the last two games while the Pro Bowler deals with an ankle injury. Defenses combat the Giants differently whenever Barkley’s on the field, making No. 26 their primary focus and opening up the play-action game for Jones.
Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka also seem more comfortable designing plays when Barkley’s in the mix. At least when it’s clear who’s calling those plays. Kafka maintains he’s making the calls on gamedays, but there’s been speculation Daboll took the reins during Week 2’s 31-28 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
That’s the Giants’ lone win this season and things will only get better if there’s some continuity around Jones. Continuity in front of him in the trenches, and continuity from his coaches.